Hitch pintle hook



Sept. 19, 1950 H. KETEL 2,522,791

HITCH FINTLE HOOK Filed Hay 9, 1949 [9 0 1 /3/4l Q Z 2" /7 man z.

101s A? gf 23 M NWN-ron l 591 4g@ vy HENRY KETEL.

A'r'ronwsvs Patented Sept. 19, 1950 HITCH PINTLE HOOK Henry Ketel,Holland, Mich., assignor to Holland Hitch Company, Holla of Michigan nd,Mich., a corporation Application May 9, 1949, Serial No. 92,150

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a hitch pintle hook, which is of utility inconnecting a truck, tractor or other pulling vehicle with a secondvehicle which is to be pulled by it.

The connection between a pulling vehicle and one drawn thereby, in thepresent invention, is through the use of a hook connected to one of thevehicles, in general the one which is doing the pulling, and with whicha link connected to the pulled vehicle is detachably connected. The linkmay embrace the hook and have a part come in front of it so that whenthus connected, the vehicle is pulled and drawn over the road. With thepresent invention it is an object and purpose to provide a simple andeasily operated latch in conjunction with the hook structure which, whenin its operative position, is latched to lock the link againstdisengagement from the hook by upward mov-ement with respect thereto.

Of greater importance, it is an object and -purpose of the presentinvention to provide a very novel, practical means for eliminating jarsand shocks between the coupling means of the two vehicles. The link isquickly and readily connected with the hook and after such connection,novel means are provided for forcing such means against the hook toyieldingly resist movement of it away therefrom. This eliminates lostmotion between the coupling link and hoo-k, with an elimination oftaking up slack between the pulling and pulled vehicles when, as happensat times, the pulled vehicle under its momentum may tend to move fasterthan the vehicle drawing it. There are many other conditions which mayresult in slack existing between the coupling members which it is anobject and purpose of the present invention to prevent and take care of,at the same time providing cushioning means so that any shocks occurringbetween the two vehicles are cushioned and absorbed without undue strainoi any parts of the hook, link or other portions of the` coupling meansused.

An understanding of the invention may be had from the followingdescription, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, inwhich,

Fig. 1 is an elevation of the hitch pintle hook. of my invention, and

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section therethrough, the latch beingshown in closed operative position in Fig. 2, and in raised position inFig. 1.

Like reference characters refer to like parts in the different figuresof the drawing.

In the construction shown a relatively heavy body I extendinghorizontally from a transm i) L) versely positioned attaching ange 2 atone end, at the opposite end terminates in a thickened and heavyupwardly turned hook 3. The body l between the hook and the ange i andbetween its upper and lower sides, is cylindrically enlarged to providecylindrical housings 4 and 5 in axial alignment, which have cylindricalopenings or passages iid and .ic therethrough from the flanged end ofthe body to the outer end of the cylinder i which is spaced a shortdistance :from the inner side of the hook 3 as sho-wn in Fig. 1.

A cylindrical sleeve (i is slidably mounted for longitudinal movementlengthwise of the passage 4a. At its outer end it is closed with a head1 permanently attached therewith. Back of theV head l a heavy coiledcompression spring 8 is located within the sleeve The spring at itsinner end bears against a floating disk Si having a central opening. Thespring ii is short in length so that the disk i) is located a distancefrom the inner end of the sleeve li (Fig. 2).

A horizontal shaft iii extends transversely across the cylindricalpassage 5a, and within `=A.said passage, is provided with a crank pin Ileccentrically offset from the center of the shaft Il! so that the shaftIii in effect is a crankshaft. With the crank pin il a couplingconnection i2 is associated, being connected thereto, from which a bari3 extends into the rear endportion of the sleeve ii and at its free endmay pass to the opening of the disk 5i. A cross pin le is mountedadjacent the free end of the bar i3 bearing against the inner side oithe disk 9. The ends of the pins ici extend into short longitudinalslots l5 in opposite sides of the cylindrical sleeve ii. The crankshaftlil may be rocked about its longitudinal axis by means of a handoperated crank or handle i6, iiXed thereto at one of its ends outside ofthe cast body I.

It is apparent that by reason of the slots l5 there is provid-ed a lostmotion connection between the sleeve t and the crankshaft l0, but thatupon throwing the crankshaft in a counterclockwise direction asufficient distance until the inner ends of the slots I5 are reached bythe pin M no movement of the sleeves 5 occurs, but on a continuedrotation the sleeve and the head 'l at its outer end are withdrawnsubstantially to the position of the head in Fig. l, with the crank arml5 in upper position. But upon moving said arm or handle It in aclockwise direction, after the movement has proceeded iar enough thatthe pin lll` at its ends against the disk 9 the sleeve 6 and head l willbe moved outwardly, if free to do so, until, the outer ends of the slotsI5 are substantially reached by the pin I4. At the inner position of thehead l, as in Fig. 1, ample spac-e is provided for the entrance of acoupling link between such head and the hook.

A locking latch Il of the form shown is pivotally connected at one end,at I8 so that it may be turned between upper inoperative and loweroperative positions, respectively shown in Figs 1 and 2. In itsoperative position, as in Fig. 2, the latch extends over and bridgesacross the upper open end of the slot between the head 'I and the hookIn such position it is he1d normally against moving to its upperunlatched position by a latching dog I9, pivotally carried by the latchlmember i'l,'being mounted thereon at one end by means of a pivot 20. Acoiled compression spring 2l carried by the latch member l1 and bearingagainst the dog i9 normally turns the dog in a counter-clockwisedirection so that its free end is received in a keeper recess 22 formedat the upper side of the body l, infront of'an upward projection id onthe body, as best shown in Fig. 2. By grasping the dog i9 by suitablehandle means adjacent its free end, it may be turned clockwise todiscngage from the keeper recess at 22, whereupon the latch may belifted, the free end of the dog riding upon the upper surface on theprojection la until it passes to the rear thereof (Fig. l), serving insuch position to releasably hold the latch in its upper releasedposition.

When a-coupling is to be made with the latch hook, the end of a link 23for such coupling is dropped into the space between the hook 3 and theouter side of the head l, with the head withdrawn the crank handle I@ inupper position. The locking latch il is also in upper position. Afterthe end of the link, which in practice may connect two spaced sidesthereof which pass by and embrace opposite sides of the hook 3, is

dropped in place, the holding latch il is releasedand moved to theposition in Fig. 2, the latching dog automatically snapping at its freeend into the recess 2Q. Then the handle l0 is turned clockwise throughan arc of 180 or slightly more, or until stopped by coming againstflange 2. This moves the sleeve and head outwardly until the head `lengages the coupling link 23 at one side and forces it at the other sideagainst the hook 3. Such engagement will take place before thecompletion of movement of the crank arm or handle I6, whereupon tocomplete the movement, the pin Hi bearing against the disk d willcontinue its movement and compress spring 8. Such compression while ofsmall distance, so far as decreasing the axial length of spring d,causes the spring i3 to transmit a heavy force to the head I to hold thecoupling at 23 in snug pressure engagement against the inner side of thehook 3. At the same time spring being yieldable upon a heavy pressureforce thereagainst, jars and shocks transmitted by the coupling to thehead I'I will be absorbed by the spring with insurance against fractureor other breakage of the body I of the device. Jars and shocks arereadily absorbed without a separation of the coupling member 23 from theinner side on the hook s, and all slackness and lost motion aresubstantially done away with.

The structure described is exceptionally strong, sturdy and durable,simple in construction, readily produced, and in practice, is entirelysatisfactory for the purposes it is to ll.

The invention is defined in the appended claims and is to be consideredcomprehensive of all forms of structure coming within their scope.

I claim:

1. In a structure as described, a body having a horizontal longitudinalpassage therethrough of cylindrical form and having an upwardly turnedhook at its outer end, the inner side of which is spaced from the end ofsaid passage, a cylindrical sleeve slidably mounted in the passage, ahead closing the outer end of the sleeve having a face generallyparallel to the inner side lof the hook,

a heavy coiled compression spring within said' sleeve having one endbearing against the head, a disk against which the opposite end of thespring bears, said disk being locatedand movable within the sleeve, andmanually operable means operable from outside of said body, includingmeans for forcing said disk against the spring to tend to move saidsleeve and head toward the hook on operation of the manual operablemeans in one direction, and for withdrawing the sleeve on operation ofthe manually operable means in the opposite direction.

2. A structure as defined in claim 1, said manually operable meanscomprising, a crankshaft mounted for rocking movements transversely ofand adjacent the inner end of the body, a connecting rod connected tosaid crankshaft extending into the sleeve and adapted to be moved backand forth on rocking the crankshaft, a transverse pin extending throughsaid connecting rod adjacent its free end back of said disk, said sleevehaving diametrically opposed slots into which the ends or" said pinextend, and a handle at the outer end of the crankshaft for impartingrocking movement, thereto.

HENRY KETEL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,448,950 Uecker Mar. 20, 19231,635,659 Clement July 12, 1927 1,832,042 Mohr Nov. 17, 1931 2,008,050Tampier July 16, 1935 2,067,794 Seyferth Jan, 12, 1937 2,270,569 WeissJan. 20, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 649,571 Germany Aug.27, 1937

